Meadowvale Village, Mississauga

Last updated

Meadowvale Village
Preserved hamlet
Neighbourhood
Meadowvale Village.jpg
The historic area of Meadowvale Village along Old Derry Road
Meadowvale Village, Mississauga
Coordinates: 43°37′37″N79°43′40″W / 43.62694°N 79.72778°W / 43.62694; -79.72778
CountryCanada
Province Ontario
Regional municipality Peel
City Mississauga
Founded1836 (as hamlet)
Changed Division1974 Peel Region from Peel County
Changed Municipality1968 Mississauga from Toronto Township (as Town) 1974 (as City) [1] [2]
Postal codes

Meadowvale Village (originally just Meadowvale) is a preserved hamlet and neighbourhood in the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, within the larger suburban Meadowvale district, which gets its name from the historic community, which is located at Old Derry Road and Second Line West. The larger neighbourhood's approximate boundaries are the Levi and Fletcher's Creeks to the west and east respectively, Highway 401 to the south, and Mississauga's city limits to the north.

Contents

As the village is partially situated in the floodplain of the Credit River (which is unusually wide in the vicinity), where development is prohibited, there is a sizeable swathe of preserved rural land immediately to the west, extending to south of Highway 401.

Notable landmarks include:

History

The Meadowvale hamlet was founded in 1836 and is Ontario's first heritage conservation district. Charles Horace Gooderham (1844-1904), son of the founder of Gooderham and Worts William Gooderham Sr., built his "country property" Georgian manor on Main Street (now 929 Old Derry Road) in northern Toronto Township in 1870 as he was sent there to manage Silverthorne Grist Mill acquired by his family firm. [3] [4] Gooderham's mansion was sold in 1884 when the family Gooderham and Worts left the area and was later sold to in 1895 John Watt. After successive owners, the home was re-purposed for other uses and after abandonment it became home to the present day Rotherglen School's Meadowvale Campus in 1996. [5] The population growth increased after Gooderham built his property. In 1968, Meadowvale Village, within Toronto Township, became part of the Town of Mississauga when the township was restructured, with Mississauga becoming a city in 1974. [1] [2]

In the early 1990's, Peel Region began construction of a new alignment of Derry Road to bypass the village, after years of opposition by residents with the original plan to widen the road through it, which would have required demolishing most of the historic buildings. The new Derry Road alignment opened on November 5, 1994, with the original road through the village later being renamed Old Derry Road. [6] Second Line West was later also bypassed by a northern extension of Mavis Road, and cut off to the north and south. [7]

Modern Meadowvale Village

Aerial view of Meadowvale Village as a whole Meadowvale Village 2023.jpg
Aerial view of Meadowvale Village as a whole

Today the area is well-populated, culturally diverse, and contains mostly single-family dwellings. [1] Meadowvale Village has four schools: three with the Peel public board or Peel Catholic board, and one Montessori. There is some commercial activity; mainly along Old Derry Road in the old village area. The Credit River passes through the village area, with the Meadowvale Conservation Area located just to the north. Local roads include Old Derry Road and Second Line West (the hamlet's original crossroads), John Watt and Gooderham Estates Boulevards, and Silverthorn Mill Avenue; with Derry, Mavis, and McLaughlin Roads being major arteries through the newer areas. There are extant ruins of the abutments for a bridge of the Toronto-Guelph Suburban Line, where it once crossed a canal for a mill. [1]

The 2000 film Ginger Snaps had a scene filmed in Silver Fox Forest, a woodlot and local park on Danthorpe Drive. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Meadowvale Village – Heritage Mississauga".
  2. 1 2 "About Peel". Peelarchivesblog.com. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  3. "Silverthorne Grist Mill – Meadowvale". 30 March 2015.
  4. "The history of Mississauga's Gooderham Estate Boulevard". 6 March 2019.
  5. "The history of Mississauga's Gooderham Estate Boulevard". 6 March 2019.
  6. "Meadowvale: Mills to Millennium. p. 202-203" (PDF). Hicks, Kathleen. Mississauga Library System. 2003. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  7. "Satellite imagery showing the Mavis Road corridor north of Highway 401 (move slider between 2000 and earlier views and zoom into the centre of sector 11)" . Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  8. Grimmlifecollective. "Ginger Snaps Filming Locations (Time: 10:00 to end)". YouTube . Retrieved 9 September 2025.

43°37′37″N79°43′40″W / 43.62694°N 79.72778°W / 43.62694; -79.72778